Freshwater tank - water change

[Hokieokieamy]

Hey guys!

I was just wondering how often everyone does a water change in their tank? I have a 36 gallon and I do a 50% water change once a week. I’m wondering if that’s too much/too often.

thanks!

 

[AquaBarb]

Hey guys!

I was just wondering how often everyone does a water change in their tank? I have a 36 gallon and I do a 50% water change once a week. I’m wondering if that’s too much/too often.

thanks!

Thats spot on. I do 50 to75% once a week on all my tanks

 

[Slaphppy7]

Same here, around 50% weekly for all of my tanks.
In the summertime, my "cold" tap temp can get up to 86-88F, which is much too warm for my tanks, so I do a little less than 50%, while floating frozen water bottles...

 

[Colin_T]

75% water change and complete gravel clean every week.

 

[AbbeysDad]

Generally speaking, there's no such thing as too much fresh, clean water!

Partial Water Changes

 

[Melaniser]

If I do say 60% weekly - does it matter whether that’s all in one go - or spread over the week? Eg could I do x3 lots of 20% over the course of the week?

My tank is nowhere near a tap so automatic water changes is a pipe dream for me - good old bucket & siphon - because of that it would be easier for me to do smaller but regular changes rather than the whole lot in one go.

 

[Slaphppy7]

If I do say 60% weekly - does it matter whether that’s all in one go - or spread over the week? Eg could I do x3 lots of 20% over the course of the week?

My tank is nowhere near a tap so automatic water changes is a pipe dream for me - good old bucket & siphon - because of that it would be easier for me to do smaller but regular changes rather than the whole lot in one go.

That works fine, as well...just use enough dechlorinator for the bucket amounts of fresh water.
How far away from the tank is the nearest tap?

 

[Melaniser]

Thank you. The tap is probably about 12 metres away in a different room.

I would also be worried about the water temperature changing it all at once - I am in England so my problem is in bringing the temperature up rather than cooling it down.

just now my system is that I boil one full kettle, add that to my bucket, then fill to the 10 litre line with cold water and add 5ml of tap water treatment. That gets it to the perfect temperature.

so smaller bucket changes work for me - I’m not sure I’d manage 50% in one go without sending the fish into cold water shock.

 

[Slaphppy7]

Thank you. The tap is probably about 12 metres away in a different room.

I would also be worried about the water temperature changing it all at once - I am in England so my problem is in bringing the temperature up rather than cooling it down.

just now my system is that I boil one full kettle, add that to my bucket, then fill to the 10 litre line with cold water and add 5ml of tap water treatment. That gets it to the perfect temperature.

so smaller bucket changes work for me - I’m not sure I’d manage 50% in one go without sending the fish into cold water shock.

Yes, it's very important to match the new water temp to the tank water temp, as best as you can...a lower tap temp by a few degrees usually won't be a problem, but temps higher than the tank can cause major issues...

 

[Essjay]

just now my system is that I boil one full kettle, add that to my bucket, then fill to the 10 litre line with cold water and add 5ml of tap water treatment. That gets it to the perfect temperature.

That's almost the same as what I do - the difference is that I put the water conditioner in the bucket first, then add the water so that the water running into the tank swirls the water up and mixes it all better. I also start the tap running then open the kettle lid and dump all the boiling water in while the tap is running.


Edit - forgot to add, if you have a combi boiler you can use hot tap water rather than boiling a kettle. I use a kettle because we have a heat only boiler.